Shoupe: Honda plans continued growth in Lincoln

Honda Manufacturing of Alabama LLC celebrated 10 years of making cars in Alabama last year and has plans to continue to grow at its Lincoln plant, President and CEO Tom Shoupe told the Birmingham Kiwanis Club Tuesday.

Shoupe, who was named CEO of the plant last year, didn’t outline details of the expansion plans, but said Honda is going to “continue to try and exceed Alabama’s expectations” as it “moves forward to the future.”

While Honda is a Japanese brand, 90 percent of its vehicles are made at its nine North American facilities, Shoupe told the crowd of about 200 gathered at the Harbert Center.

Alabama’s plant, located in Lincoln, is the only facility where the Odyssey minivan, Pilot SUV and Ridgeline truck are made. Its 4,000 employees have assembled more than 2 million vehicles since it opened.

Honda has invested $1.6 billion in Alabama since coming to the state, including $5 million in education taxes. And it contributes to 45,000 related jobs.

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011 hampered supplies to the Alabama plant and production was amended to only several days a week for four months, he said. But he said they worked to minimize the impact to employees so there would be no layoffs. And during that downtime, the workers participated in training and efficiency classes and “cleaned a lot.”

When asked whether Honda is reconsidering production of the Odyssey in light of Chrysler’s announcement it would discontinue making its minivan in 2014, Shoupe said they are drawing up long-range plans for new Odyssey models right now and still consider it a viable product.

Shoupe also said what is good for Alabama are the exporting increases. Honda vehicles are now being sold in Korea, the Middle East and Russia and the Acura is being introduced in China.

Honda is also researching how to power its vehicles with alternative fuels and said their hybrids continue to sell well.

In response to a question about Alabama’s workforce, Shoupe said the state needs to continue training in technical and trade schools. The bigger need is for more trained managers, he said. Finding managers coming out of school with a manufacturing focus has been more challenging in the recession because of competition to land good candidates, he said.